The two Internet requirements that were announced as part of the new basic education structure were referred to as “modules.” The name, however, is being changed to “courses.”

The change is being made for consistency with courses offered by the American Institute for Chartered Property Casualty Underwriters (AICPCU), which is developing the Internet courses for the CAS. In the AICPCU structure, modules are components (chapters) of a course. Therefore, each Internet course will consist of a series of modules.

Course 1, Risk Management and Insurance Operations, and Course 2, Insurance Accounting, Coverage Analysis, Insurance Law, and Insurance Regulation, are scheduled to be available by January 1, 2011.

In the current drafts, each course has 17 or 18 assignments. It is anticipated that each assignment would take approximately four to five hours to complete.

The assessment for each course will consist of 75 multiple-choice questions administered in a two-hour computer-based test (CBT). The tests will be available by appointment in four two-month windows during the year with an expected starting date of April 15, 2011.

The fee for each course is expected to be approximately $500. The fee will include both the Internet course and the examination. If a candidate does not pass the assessment, there would be a retake fee of approximately $295.

Both courses are specifically designed to be delivered online. As a supplement, however, a printed textbook that includes content identical to that which is online may be purchased separately from AICPCU.

In the last Future Fellows, the Candidate Liason Committee (CLC) discussed the status of the proposed Future Education Methods (FEM) in advance of the March CAS Board of Directors’ meeting, where it was to be discussed. The CLC also announced plans to survey CAS candidates to solicit feedback on the proposal, which we did. We shared the results with the Board, and intended to share the results with candidates as well.

At the March CAS Board meeting, the Board agreed that the CAS would not pursue a partnership with the Canadian Institute of Actuaries (CIA) in establishing and administering the program. The CAS Board did adopt a resolution that would allow the CAS to grant waivers for CAS exams to those who have been granted credit by the CIA, subject to review and recommendation of the Education Policy Committee and the Executive Council.

On the possible granting of waivers, CIA President Robert Howard, speaking at the 2010 CAS Leadership Meeting , said, “We are not going to implement FEM unless we are convinced that the quality of candidates will be at least as good as with the exams. If we go ahead, we expect to be able to show you that the quality is good. We don’t expect you to give our candidates credit unless you are comfortable with our system.”
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